Rumor: Zooey Deschanel Cast in New Spider-Man Movie

Zooey Deschanel is the latest name tossed into the swirling whirlpool of Spider-Man casting rumors.

Today, MTV is reporting that Zooey Deschanel (notably Trillian in 2005's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) may be filling the role of Betty Brant in Mark Webb's Spider-man reboot. Elizabeth Banks played the role in the 2002 Spider-Man, bringing the Daily Bugle's Betty to life for a couple minutes; all the same, the character isn't a pivotal one. One might think that casting Betty isn't terribly exciting, but director Webb apparently "has big plans for her."

Webb has spent the week racking up names for his reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. Earlier this week, we heard of the casting of Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May, respectively, and the confirmation that Rhys Ifans will be playing Dr. Curt Connors. We were told that Mary-Jane Watson will not be in the film, no matter who the internet collectively decides to cast for the part. Oh, and in news that will surprise no one, the film is going to be released in 3-D.

While we're staffing up the newsroom, I'd like to see some casting for J. Jonah Jameson. This whole regime change unfortunately means that I won't see more J.K. Simmons in the role; those are some big, shouty shoes to fill. Right now the frontrunners are John Slattery (okay) and Sam Elliott (perhaps not).